Chapter Summaries

Bai Lian told Di Yunqian that Di Qingyu’s injuries had likely left her unable to conceive, then left the palace after collecting his fee. Di Qingyu persuaded Gao Qian to let her inspect the provincial graduates’ lists, leaving their alliance in the investigation cautiously unspoken.

• Bai Lian told Di Yunqian that Di Qingyu was recovering but would likely never be able to conceive, and Di Yunqian paid him one thousand taels for the consultation.
• Bai Lian left the palace with Little White, whose reaction revealed that it had detected a medicine there; he decided to search the other three kingdoms first.
• Di Qingyu asked Gao Qian for Du Chengji’s bribery ledger, and he questioned whether the emperor might be keeping Du Chengji alive while waiting for someone.
• Gao Qian initially refused to give Di Qingyu the promised provincial graduates’ lists, then offered them after asking what role she played in the case.
• Di Qingyu said she was also a chess piece, and Gao Qian let her inspect the lists for a quarter of an hour.

Di Qingyu assigned three fates to the strategists she had identified: aid for future loyalists, surveillance for future opponents, and death for corrupt officials. She then met Wei Xin, who secretly reported on the empress’s orders while pretending to paint Di Qingyu asleep, and Di Qingyu asked her what she suspected about the Du Family trap.

• Di Qingyu wrote down the strategists’ names and ordered Chunzhi to support some, monitor others, and kill those marked for elimination.
• Chunzhi warned that funding impoverished scholars would cost more silver than Di Qingyu had, and Di Qingyu said she would find a way to get it.
• Wei Xin visited Di Qingyu, who reminded her of the Wei Family’s debt and expected Wei Xin to send her gold and silver.
• Di Qingyu had Xialin keep Wei Xin’s palace maid outside, then told Wei Xin that the empress had planted a spy on her.
• Wei Xin explained that the empress had sent her to win Di Qingyu over and learn her plans, while Di Qingyu told her to report any threat to Noble Consort Gao.
• While painting Di Qingyu as if she were asleep, Wei Xin asked whether Di Qingyu had already laid a trap for the Du Family, and Di Qingyu invited her to explain her theory.

Wei Xin deduced how Di Qingyu had brought down Du Chengji, and Di Qingyu tested her loyalty by threatening to kill her. Impressed by Wei Xin’s intelligence and experience investigating cases, Di Qingyu agreed to train her and eventually help her leave the palace.

• Wei Xin explained how Di Qingyu’s moves had turned Du Yutao into the weakness that exposed Du Chengji.
• Di Qingyu challenged Wei Xin to guess when she would die, then gripped her throat; Wei Xin insisted she could be a valuable and loyal subordinate.
• Di Qingyu released Wei Xin and asked whether she wanted to leave the palace, and Wei Xin described her experience helping her father investigate cases.
• Di Qingyu offered Wei Xin medicinal liquid to keep the emperor from desiring her and instructed her to remain in the palace as a spy on the empress’s side.
• Di Qingyu promised to arrange Wei Xin’s departure when the time was right and told her to visit daily for lessons from Chunzhi.

After Du Chengji was imprisoned, Di Yunqian kept him alive as bait while the Ministry of War investigated a mysterious weapon fragment. In the imperial garden, Di Qingyu saw through Di Chenzhe’s calculated friendliness and remained wary of him.

• The commoners praised Di Yunqian for imprisoning Du Chengji, while Di Yunqian rebuked an official who asked when Du Chengji would be executed.
• The minister of war reported that the Ministry of War had identified only charcoal on the mysterious fragment, and Di Yunqian promised its maker a marquisate and the post of prime minister.
• Zhu Juxuan told Di Yunqian that Du Chengji denied attacking the Wei Family and proposed using him as bait by spreading word that he would be exiled.
• Di Yunqian agreed to Zhu Juxuan’s plan to watch Du Chengji and capture anyone who approached him.
• Di Jixin insulted Di Qingyu in the imperial garden, while Di Chenzhe apologized and then left with his sister.
• Di Qingyu told Chunzhi that Di Chenzhe’s apology was a calculated attempt to improve her opinion of him and deepen her rift with Di Jixin.

Di Qingyu discovered that Emperor Di Yunqian had orchestrated the disaster relief grain hijacking, then presented him with an ancient alchemy book that might explain the moat explosion. Di Yunqian became eager to study the weapon described in it, but questioned why she had kept her findings private.

• Xialin reported that the missing relief grain was guarded by men resembling the Imperial Guard, and Di Qingyu concluded that the emperor had staged the hijacking.
• Di Qingyu told Xialin that the emperor had used the princes as a smokescreen and forced corrupt ministers to replace the stolen supplies.
• Di Qingyu went to Xuanzheng Hall and asked Di Yunqian whether he had delayed Du Chengji's execution because of the moat's collapse.
• Di Qingyu showed Di Yunqian a fragmentary alchemy book describing explosions and suggested that it could explain the moat disaster.
• Di Qingyu identified charcoal and sulfur as likely ingredients, and Di Yunqian asked why she had researched them in secret before bringing the book to him.

Di Qingyu persuaded Di Yunqian to let her help develop weapons for Xiling, then received the title of Eldest Princess the next morning. Her sudden elevation stunned the palace and court, while the people largely welcomed it, leaving Xiling poised for political turmoil.

• Di Qingyu explained her interest in weapons and offered to devote her life to Xiling, swearing never to marry to earn Di Yunqian’s trust.
• Di Qingyu urged Di Yunqian to act quickly against the hidden threat behind Du Chengji and appealed to his ambition to unite all under heaven.
• Di Yunqian’s suspicions eased as he prioritized developing the weapon, though he did not directly answer Di Qingyu’s request.
• The next morning, Li Peian delivered Di Yunqian’s decree elevating Di Qingyu to Eldest Princess, and she accepted the title and investiture.
• The empress and ministers questioned the unprecedented decree, while the people of Xiling Royal City largely supported Di Qingyu’s promotion.

After Di Qingyu received the title of grand princess, she entertained the consorts who came to seek her favor and spoke privately with Wei Xin. She explained how she had used her schemes and explosives to secure her position, then urged Wei Xin to remain loyal and offered her the possibility of becoming Xiling's first female chancellor.

• Zhu Juxuan told Madam Zhu that Di Qingyu's new title likely had a hidden reason, while they discussed Zhu Jiuning's marriage prospects.
• Di Qingyu accepted gifts from the consorts who came to Yaohua Hall, while she reassured Gao Miling without revealing her role in making explosives.
• Wei Xin massaged Di Qingyu and admitted she understood how Di Qingyu had used the Du Family affair and explosives to gain the emperor's favor.
• Di Qingyu told Wei Xin that her value outweighed any suspicion the emperor might have and warned her to ground her cleverness in loyalty.
• Di Qingyu gave Wei Xin a hairpin and said she could support her in becoming Xiling's first female chancellor.

Wei Xin accepted Di Qingyu’s offer to become Weisheng Xin, sever ties with her family, and serve her ambitions. Di Qingyu then secured a residence and resources from Di Yunqian to secretly develop a weapon, but her return to the palace ended with a warning of danger.

• Di Qingyu offered Wei Xin a choice between remaining a Wei family daughter with limited prospects or faking her death and becoming her devoted strategist, and Wei Xin chose to serve as Weisheng Xin.
• Di Qingyu ordered Chunzhi to arrange Wei Xin’s feigned death in three days and send her to the Information Pavilion to learn from Shao Chi.
• Di Qingyu asked Di Yunqian for a residence, money, and skilled people to develop weapons in secret, promising results before the end of the year.
• Di Yunqian gave Di Qingyu Du Chengji’s confiscated residence, a thousand taels of gold, and several hundred servants for its repairs.
• Di Qingyu planned renovations and secret passages at the former Du residence, then boarded a carriage back to the palace late at night as someone warned her to watch out.

Di Qingyu captured Du Yutao after he led assassins against her and discovered that Zhu Wuyang had witnessed her fighting. She admitted she had used him before, promised to protect the General's residence, and warned him to scrutinize the men courting his sister before kicking him from her carriage.

• Di Qingyu ordered Du Yutao's assassins killed and had him taken away for interrogation after he refused to reveal who had supplied them.
• Zhu Wuyang confronted Di Qingyu in her carriage, accusing her of hiding her martial arts and using him to help bring down the Du Family.
• Di Qingyu admitted her scheme and promised to do everything in her power to save everyone in the General's residence if it faced disaster.
• Zhu Wuyang offered to take another blade for Di Qingyu someday, while she told him they were not enemies unless he stood in her way.
• Di Qingyu warned Zhu Wuyang to vet the men courting his younger sister, then kicked him out of the carriage near the palace gates.
• Zhu Wuyang watched the carriage leave and wondered why being with Di Qingyu felt so familiar and easy.

Di Qingyu advanced her plans while preparing to welcome her four imperial brothers back from disaster relief. At the banquet, the princes discovered that her new rank as Grand Princess had placed her above them.

• Di Qingyu met with the Ministry of Works to discuss renovating the Du residence and ordered Wei Xin to be switched with a prepared corpse after taking fake-death medicine.
• Di Qingyu learned that the four princes had returned from Yulu City and decided to welcome them using her authority as Grand Princess.
• Di Yunqian greeted the four princes at the city gate and invited them to a celebratory banquet.
• At the banquet, Di Jinzhao questioned why the eldest prince had been assigned a lower seat, and the princes waited to learn who outranked him.
• Di Qingyu entered the hall as Grand Princess, and the four princes reacted with surprise when they recognized her.